Atlantic City was once a bustling tourist hub — here's how it has changed

Signage from the Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City is removed after its closing in 2014. Mark Makela/Reuters

Atlantic City was once New Jersey's largest tourist attraction. As the first city to provide gambling outside of Nevada, it provided those on the East Coast a place to vacation on the beach and gamble.

But the city has seen hard times these past few years; five of the city's 12 casinos closed between 2013 and 2016, and Atlantic City's unemployment rate is 6.3% (well above the national rate of 4%).

Just this May, the Trump Taj Mahal — which originally opened in 1990 — sold for four cents on the dollar. While its buyer, Hard Rock International, has plans to renovate the casino and hotel, it might not be worth the $375 million investment given a report that was recently released by the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Agency.

The report warned of the possibility of an "extreme" sea-level-rise scenario that could cause chronic flooding and have some coastal cities completely disappear underwater by 2100. One of the most at-risk cities, according to the report, is Atlantic City.

An earlier version of this story was published in January 2016.

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Atlantic City's true heyday was in the early 1960s, when traveling cross-country was not economical for most families.

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Even before gambling was legal in the area, the city served as the East Coast's go-to beach destination.

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Opening its doors in the summer of 1978, the Resorts International Casino was the first casino to open in Atlantic City. It was the first time gambling was legal outside of Nevada, and it was a bold attempt to bring more tourists to the area.

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Major casino operators including Caesars, Bally's, and Harrah's flocked to Atlantic City once gambling was legal. All three are still open and operating.

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Donald Trump also had high hopes for the city. He got an Atlantic City casino license in 1982 and opened three casinos, all of which are now closed.

In 1991, just a year after opening, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy. Trump had financed it with $900 million in junk bonds. In July, it began a 60-day liquidation sale to get rid of all the items inside.

In 2016, a study found that Atlantic City's casinos provided 20% fewer jobs than they did in 2014.

In May 2012, Revel, a 57-story, $2.2 billion resort and casino, opened after a nearly six-year struggle marked by construction halts, union protests, and government interference. The casino had to file for bankruptcy two times within the first two years of operating, and it officially closed in September 2014. In 2015, Glenn Straub purchased Revel for $82 million in bankruptcy court and renamed the property TEN. It has yet to reopen, and while there were reports that a private equity firm made an offer to buy it, Straub said he was unaware of any such offers.

The nonprofit marketing organization Atlantic City Alliance has been in charge of branding Atlantic City since 2011.

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In 2012, the Alliance announced a new slogan for Atlantic City: "Do AC."

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It hasn't helped turn the city's economy around. Between 2013 and 2016, five casinos have had to shut down: Revel AC, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, Showboat Atlantic City, and the Taj Mahal.

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These closings cost the city more than 10,000 jobs.

In November of 2016, the state of New Jersey voted to reject the state's proposal to expand casino gambling to the northern part of the state. This left Atlantic City as the only gambling city in New Jersey.

In April of this year, construction began on the Atlantic City Gateway, a new, $210 million development that will include corporate, residential, restaurant, and entertainment buildings, as well as academic facilities for Stockton University. It will be the first non-casino development in the city in 15 years.